22 January 2012
Dear Students:
I am still on South Africa time waking at two and four in the morning. The time difference is about 10 hours between here and there. It was great when I needed a bit more time to complete something, I could go to bed and wake up in the same day—different time zone. I got up today at 4 a.m. went to sleep yesterday about six or seven in the evening. Today is my granddaughter’s birthday. She is nine. Her mother is a graduate of COA: psychology, with a BS in psychology and women’s studies from Cal State East Bay (2011).
This morning I completed a wonderful book, might I say, a mighty work (smile), entitled, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, A Memoir, by Leyman Gbowee with Carol Mithers.
When I watched the film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, directed by Gini Reticker, produced by Abigail E. Disney, I marveled over the courage of the Liberian women to defeat the Charles Taylor war machine with prayer and nonviolent resistance. The women assembled along the road where the president’s caravan passed twice daily. Dressed in plain white garments, these women, from the city, from the countryside, rural women, educated and uneducated women, Christian and Muslim women, women who called on the ancient indigenous spirits and goddesses, sat or stood together in the oppressive heat and in the summer storms getting wet and growing dark and weak as they became the key voice for peace in a country that was violently spinning out of control. The film is on-line at: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/full-episodes/pray-the-devil-back-to-hell/ There are also links to other films in the series: Women, War and Peace, as well as to interviews with Ms. Gbowee.
Unlike her memoir, the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell, is a heroines’ story, the story of a nation which is confronted by its most vulnerable population, its women. It is a story, Liberia’s quest for peace is a story, a story which ends as it begins. The film could be a miniseries; the culminating event is not the end, rather the beginning, which we’d never know unless we read 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Gbowee’s tale of triumph and personal sacrifice. I am happy Abigail Disney told me about the memoir when we last spoke in a radio interview—what a wonderful journey is has been this weekend. I am just disappointed I wasn’t able to meet Ms. Gbowee when she was here on tour last year.
I bought the book at the college book store Thursday where I have it listed as required. I assigned it for my English 1A class, along with Half the Sky, the Pulitzer Prize winning book from the married team, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Students either hate the book or love it. I never know what to expect from Spring semester to Spring semester over the past three years. One criticism is the formulaic nature of the book and the fact that men are not key characters and when they are, they are often the villains.
I assigned this book after seeing the authors and a woman profiled in Half the Sky on Oprah. You can imagine my great surprise when a student told me its authors were hosting a global event for International Women’s Day in theatres throughout the country. We attended of course. Locally our event was in Emeryville. Students bought tickets and I got some free ones from a sponsoring organization in San Francisco and we went. Students said they found the film and discussion inspiring.
We will start with Gbowee and then shift into the Kristof WuDunn land where all women are suffering— Yes, it would be depressing without evidence of triumph. Gbowee’s success is not singular, that is why her story is so remarkable. However, Half the Sky is unable to go into such depth, this is why we are reading her story first.
Students in English 1A will look for a woman entrepreneur in Northern California to profile in an essay. Students will also chose a book about the woman entrepreneur or a book by a woman to write an essay exploring the memoir, autobiography or novel’s themes and topics as relates to women’s empowerment or peace. These are the major essays for English 1A. We will write a series of short essays and post on the blog, these cyber-assignments will often start in class. All cyber-assignment are interactive and students have to respond to minimally 1-3 students posts for credit for the assignment. The first cyber assignment is a response to this letter, the second is a response to the syllabus. The second response includes a private response to me. My email addresses are: coasabirenglish201@gmail.com, coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com, coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com, coasabirenglish5@gmail.com
I love memoirs and autobiographies that cover political, social and historic movements, like this one does. The Warmth of Other Suns does a similar job, except Isabel Wilkerson didn’t live it, as Gbowee does. A short book, just under 250 pages, Gbowee’s work addressed in the award winning film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, doesn’t start until the book is nearly two thirds finished. I thought of all the murder mysteries I love where the crime is solved in the last ten pages; was this one of those reads?
Each Spring in honor of Women’s History Month in March, I have used women’s issues as the theme for the semester. So here we are again. In English 5 we are looking more are the criminalization of a population in California and in America, poor people of color, more specifically black people. California incarcerates more youth as adults than any other state and more women. I am concerned about this. I am a member of an organization called, California Coalition for Women Prisoners. We are an advocacy organization. I serve on its board.
Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, looks at the criminalization of a population and how this tale is not new when one looks at the historic Jim Crow polices of America’s south, instituted at the end of enslavement of an entire race for four centuries. Cornell West’s forward to the paperback edition is quite provocative as he raises questions and issues you might not be familiar with. As English 5 meets for 1 hour and 15 minutes. We will have to do a lot of preparation at home and come to class ready to talk and discuss what we have read, the theories we have explored in our text book or in other readings I will supply on other argument forms: Toulmin and Aristotelian. Writing Logically, Thinking Critically only uses the Rogerian argumentative form.
We will write four arguments using these forms. The last argument, which takes its theme from Alexander, will be an opportunity for a student to craft an argument using one of the three explored. There might be an opportunity for the “super students” to craft an argument taking on a topic they disagree with arguing its merits. Since this is an election year, it will be fun analyzing campaign speeches, looking for examples of logical fallacies or flawed logic in ads, op eds and other media.
All arguments are both written and oral. Students will present their written arguments for critique. Each of three arguments will take their topic from one of the texts. We will start with Yummy, then move to Mosely, and end with Alexander. Alexander is a hard read, so if you are a slow reader, start it early.
We are leaving Alexander for last, as I’d like to get through much of Writing Logically, along with its exercises, before we start the book. I love Walter Mosely’s work. He is one of my favorite writers since the Easy Rawlins’ series of detective novels, to his science fiction work, and lately his protagonist Socrates Fortlow novels, Fortlow who is just as thoughtful as Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins, perhaps more.
One of my students in English 1A Fall 2010, shared the title with me and I checked it out from the Oakland Public Library. I read it in a day and a half and immediately decided to use it this Spring Semester. The argument is classic. How many of you ever thought the destination “hell” as negotiable (smile)? Well, Mosely’s character disagrees with his sentence and gets sent back to earth to work it out with his angel. There he meets the devil or Lucifer himself. It is a great story that makes the reader rethink her notion of right and wrong, good and evil.
When I was in Los Angeles last year in November to say good bye to a good friend who was dying, I went to the Holocaust Museum that Sunday, where the author of Yummy was receiving a book award. I hadn’t known the story of the child in Chicago. After reading Yummy, I decided to make it one of our texts this semester as it is an easy read and a story—those of us who live in urban communities can undoubtedly, unfortunately, relate to.
I also like films and in the classes longer than 50 minutes, we watch a few (smile). For English 1A, we will definitely watch, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, even if it takes two classes or I might assign it as homework (we’ll see).
Sandra Cisneros’s House on Mango Street, first, Yummy, second, and last, Always Running. Students will also read a book, a memoir of their own choosing. I suggest the sequel to Always Running, It Calls You Back.
There will be a Social Entrepreneur Essay for English 201 and English 1A students.
In English 201, we will take our freewrites in response to House on Mango Street and make a book. We’ll have a book release party with refreshments (smile). There will be five major essays, three tied to assigned textbooks, one tied to a memoir you choose, the last on the social entrepreneur.
Four of the five essays involve presentations: House on Mango Street, Always Running, SE Essay, Book Report Essay. The response to Yummy can be a graphic essay for the artistically inclined (smile). In English 201 we might read the play, Elephant Man. I see this play and its character as a metaphor for what happened to the protagonist in Yummy and what happened to Luis Rodríguez in Always Running.
I chose Always Running after many years of not teaching it, because of the recent by the author, whom I had the opportunity to interview when he was in town last November on a book tour. I loved teaching his Always Running, a classic tale similar to Down These Mean Streets by the late poet and author, Piri Thomas, Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land, Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman, and more recently, The Pact by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Lisa Frazier Page, and The Color of Water by James McBride. These coming of age tales about young men, are stories where growing up is not a given for the men who tell these stories, so how they survive proves instructive then and now.
In English 1A we will read the Greek play, Lysistrata. I also have a collection of poetry with the theme, war, which we will look at in English 1A in March as well.
I hope we can attend at least one play or author event as a community of writers. I will let students know what is opening and where. You can let me know of events you are attending as well. Films are also great, especially when the director is present or there is a discussion before or afterward.
Some students are not receiving this communiqués from me, which means, said student has no email address on file with admissions and records. Correct this omission immediately. Add an email address to your application. Make sure the phone numbers listed are the ones you are able to be reached at.
I have be using the book Stewart Pidd Hates English for too many years to recall when I started exactly, but suffice it to say over the years, “The Pidd Experience,” which many students hate as well as Pidd, has become a trademark text I have become well-known for on this campus and perhaps in the District (smile). It is a book that through a series of prescriptive exercises and essays covers many of the more salient errors writing students make which give their college teachers the most grief. The errors reviewed are both grammatical and mechanical, with an overview of summary and paraphrasing most third semester students have forgotten, not to mention a mind expanding section on plagiarism, which some scholars are not serious enough about, a slight which often comes back to haunt many a student as he or she crams at the end of the semester.
Deceptively simple, SPHE grows steadily more complex until the student who has been simply gliding along runs into major difficulty. This is around the third or fourth essays, Pronoun Case or BeVerbs. The fictional character, Stewart Pidd, supplies all the course work and students act as his teachers, grading his essays and offering comments on how he can improve by naming the errors and giving an example(s) of how he can correct the essays. These corrective essays are written as templates, which means there is little space for creativity, rather, the correct essay looks like everyone else’s, with perhaps originality in the title or often in the concluding paragraph. Many students cannot believe how simple the task is, until this simplicity is shattered by failing grades.
The essays are nonsense essays, which enable students to focus on the writing, rather than the content. This to fosters in students a false sense of competence failing grades quickly shatter. It isn’t the difficulty that gets students; it is the attention to detail that gets them over and over again.
Last semester, for the first time, I had students write an essay called, “The Stewart Pidd Experience.” I also had students write an essay where they evaluated their two grammar exams in an essay. This was a part of the class portfolio which is our final assignment. There is no sitting final in this class.
I have decided to not require Pidd for Spring Semester, except as a recommendation for all students who have never used the book before. The only class where this is not true is English 201 where I am making SPHE required. For everyone else, if your essays include errors covered in Pidd, students will have to write a correction essay outlining their errors, how to correct them and a revised essay.
The errors covered in SPHE are: confused words, sentence punctuation, pronoun agreement, pronoun case, be-verbs, possessives, verb tense, parallel structure, MLA, plagiarism, paraphrasing, summarizing, ellipsis use, signal phrases, works cited pages.
I plan to give students the quizzes and the exams, just so you can know if you need to get the book and run the exercises. Beginning Week 2, I will host a six week workshop on MW mornings (10:30-11:30) for students interested in “The Pidd Experience.” I could possibly host a meeting also on M or W afternoons, after 3 p.m., let’s say, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., if more than 5 students are interested. Students do not have to be in English 201 to attend. One has to commit to the entire six weeks though. The workshop is open to all Sabir students. Students in my English 1B class last semester who did not buy a grammar style book and made many errors up to the portfolio in MLA from works cited pages to ellipsis marks, received Bs instead of As in the course. For English 1A, it was crucial that students cited correctly. This is a key goal of Freshman composition. After English 1A, students are expected to know how to cite their sources and understand the importance of scholarly research when proving a point. Students are also expected to know the difference between free and literal paraphrasing, summarizing and plagiarism. It is that serious that students who are scholars know this information, so if you don’t look at the book—SPHE, and think about this short refresher workshop. Here at the College of Alameda students can also enroll in advanced Grammar in the ESL department.
I am teaching four classes: English 1B, 21792, 8-8:50 AM, MTWTh in C211; English 1A, 21757, 9-9:50 AM, MTWTh, A-202; English 5, 21763 & English 211, 21777, 11-12:15 AM, TTh, A-202; English 201A 21768 & English 201B 21774, MW, A 202, 1-2:50 PM. (The two classes ENG 201A & ENG 201B, as well as ENG 5 and ENG 211, run concurrently.)
As usual, I am looking to hold one class a week in a lab with computers so students can learn to navigate the blog and how I want essay portfolios sent to me.
If you do not have technology at home, use the computers here on campus in the LRC. There is the Open Lab and the Writing Center for your use. All you need is a Student ID, which is free. Make sure you get on early on. Students also need to sign up for a special LRC course, which is also free. Do this early in the semester as well.
For first year students, I suggest you fit College Success at COA into your schedules: Counseling 21739, MW 12-1:15, 3 Units, in C-113, with Cobb or Counseling 21738, MW 9:30-10:45, in CV-205 (portables) with Nakmo. Similar classes are offered at Laney and Merritt colleges (Peralta Colleges 2012 Schedule of Classes 96). There is a Grammar class at Laney: 20428 6-8:50 PM, Eng. 206A, English Grammar, 3 units (Peralta Colleges 2012 Spring Schedule of Classes 107).
In all except the English 5 or Critical Thinking class, I am using a new book, I hope students like or at least find useful, They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Oh, no, students might cry, another book that uses templates?! What is wrong with Sabir, doesn’t she trust original thought (smile). You won’t believe this, but this book has been sitting on my desk for at least five years, maybe more and it wasn’t until a former student of mine, now professor, Maria Acuna, shared it with me last semester, did I decide to try it.
I have been reading it this weekend as well and I like the premise the authors use to explain why they wrote it. Granted, templates can get tiresome, but for those who are familiar with Stewart Pidd Hates English, these templates are nothing like the ones Pollitt and Baker use. Rest assured there (smile). Instead, this book helps students enter the discourse or conversation, often one which has been raging or simmering or bubbling over for a short or long while, a conversation you have never entered, however, one which affects your life in profound ways. Why haven’t you joined in? Often, the reason certain communities are not called to the table or invited to participate is intentional. The reason is, to do so doesn’t serve the interests of the body politic at the table.
Whether one is invited or not, whether one has a chair or not, whether one has the proper suit or proper language with which to engage those at the table using one’s life as a ping pong, the conversation is open in a democracy and it is yours to join even in an assignment for a class such as ours. I have students who have used their writing here to launch careers in politics. I have had students publish writing completed here in class in newspapers and respected journals. We are working in a laboratory where results can actually change lives beginning with our own. What you learn here is not “academic” if academic means useless. Each of you is a change agent; that is why you took time out of your life to show up.
Showing up is important. We all showed up for different reasons, some not as lofty as others, but you are here and because you are here, I expect great work from you. That is my goal and that is why and I am here and when you start hating me, remember, the promise I made to you here: meritocracy will never get a reward in this class. There is no grading on the curve. Everyone is held to a high standard and while I set the bar, well the State of California sets the bar and some of you will not reach it this time— keep trying and you will eventually.
The class might appear disorganized and I smile a lot and seem easy, this is an illusion. I am not easy. I demand a lot from each of you, but this is college—and you expect huge demands right? Don’t worry, I think you will get your money’s worth and then some. I do not assign writing assignments because I have nothing better to do. I can think or many tasks I love more than reading first drafts of students’ papers—you think they are final drafts, but they are not. I am a professional writer and I know what I am doing, so trust me when I tell you something is wrong. It is not personal, rather it is the writing not you I am critiquing. Some students enter the class with more skill sets than others. Some expect success in high school to tide them over here, and have rude awakenings. My suggestion is to come to class awake and sleep at home the night before.
I hope students surprise me and actually know a bit about the writing process and can read with comprehension and most importantly, are not lazy. You can enroll in this class not knowing everything, but if you do not exert yourself and fill in those spaces where perhaps time or preparation left you under-ready then, I expect you to get the extra help needed, whether that is attending my “Pidd Experience” workshop or a getting a tutor or both.
Be honest with yourself and do what you need to do to be successful here. Do not waste your time or your classmates. I will not let you waste mine or theirs or use my brain as your own. I do not suffer fools at all. Some students say I am rude, perhaps I am; however, when students are not prepared and want to waste the time of those who are, I cut them off. I am not interested in anything an unprepared student has to say. If you ever come to class unprepared, keep silent. Do not open your mouth except to tell us you are not prepared and are just observing that day.
I have to pay out of pocket for an assistant to help me with record keeping. I haven’t had a student aide in years to help students with their essays, so it’s on me and you. If you need help I can help you to a point—there is no magic. I am a great writer because I write and I kept writing when I got failing grades, had to take remedial writing classes at UC Berkeley, and got failing grades on first drafts at Holy Names.
Believe it or not, I didn’t know what a thesis sentence was until graduate school Teaching Writing course. I do not have hours to spend with one student a week, but you can get assistance, so ask when there are questions. I think faster than I write sometimes and I am an awful speller. No one is perfect. Learn what your strengths are. I have an almost photographic memory. Writing things down is a way for me to record them in my mind almost verbatim. I don’t hold hands and after last semester, a deadline is a deadline even if only one student makes it, so keep the due dates in your calendar, just in case I forget to remind you when something is due.
The blog is a place where reminders tend to go, but if you have limited access to the web, take good notes from the white board and get a few students phones numbers just in case. I suggest students hold study sessions to discuss readings and assignments. The library (first floor in the LRC or Learning Resource Center) has classrooms students can use for discussions.
Each class has varying requirements for the writing, which is about 6-8,000 words. I tend to assign more writing. In English 1A, students will have several short research essays, rather than one long essay. Each essay in English 1A will be about 3-4 pages, 250 words a page. In English 5 3-4 pages per essay. This is minimally. Essays can be a bit longer. In English 201 essays will be between 2-5 pages depending on the level. English 1B, 3-4 pages. This excludes the works cited page.
I am giving you all this in advance so you can drop the course and find a better fit.
Recap on textbooks. Find your class:
1. English 5: Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow; Walter Mosley's The Tempest Tales; Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, and Writing Logically, Thinking Critically 6th Edition. Recommended: Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary.
2.English 1B:
Gardner, Janet E. Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Second Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.
Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.
Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead Books, 2010. Print.
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. Pantheon Books, 2007. Print. ISBN 0375714839
Bannerjee, Neelanjana and Summi Kaipa, Pireeni Sundaralingam. Ed. Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian Poetry. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2010. Print.
Recommended: Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers, 4-7th editions. American Heritage Dictionary.
3. English 1A: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee, Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary. They Say, I Say, Second Edition, by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birenstein.
Recommended for students who have not taken my classes before: Stewart Pidd Hates English.
4. English 201A: Stewart Pidd Hates English*, Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Always Running: Gang Days in LA by Luis Rodriguez. American Heritage Dictionary.
English 201B: for Pidd Alumni: Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers and They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birenstein. If a student has not had me for English 201A then Pidd is recommended.
Sincerely,
Wanda Sabir
English Professor, College of Alameda
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Course Materials for Spring 2012
Greetings Students:
Welcome to English 5/211!
Course materials for all Sabir courses Spring 2012. Find your class:
1. English 5: Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow; Walter Mosley's The Tempest Tales, Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, and Writing Logically, Thinking Critically 6th Edition. Recommended: Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary.
2. English 1B: The Dance Boots, Girl in Translation, The Complete Persepolis, Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian Poetry, Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Second Edition, Janet E. Gardner. Recommended: Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary.
3. English 1A: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee, Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary. They Say, I Say, SE by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birenstein.
Recommended for students who have not taken my classes before: Stewart Pidd Hates English.
4. English 201A: Stewart Pidd Hates English*, Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Always Running: Gang Days in LA by Luis Rodriguez. American Heritage Dictionary.
English 201B: for Pidd Alumni: Diana Hacker Rules for Writers and They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birenstein. If a student has not had me for English 201A then Pidd is recommended.
Welcome to English 5/211!
Course materials for all Sabir courses Spring 2012. Find your class:
1. English 5: Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow; Walter Mosley's The Tempest Tales, Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, and Writing Logically, Thinking Critically 6th Edition. Recommended: Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary.
2. English 1B: The Dance Boots, Girl in Translation, The Complete Persepolis, Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian Poetry, Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Second Edition, Janet E. Gardner. Recommended: Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary.
3. English 1A: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee, Diana Hacker Rules for Writers, American Heritage Dictionary. They Say, I Say, SE by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birenstein.
Recommended for students who have not taken my classes before: Stewart Pidd Hates English.
4. English 201A: Stewart Pidd Hates English*, Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Always Running: Gang Days in LA by Luis Rodriguez. American Heritage Dictionary.
English 201B: for Pidd Alumni: Diana Hacker Rules for Writers and They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birenstein. If a student has not had me for English 201A then Pidd is recommended.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The Rogerian Proof: Outline and Checklist
Final argument
Use this final argument form for the essay which takes its theme from Black Like Me. The theme is "legality vs. morality" for all three arguments. One could look at the system of segregation, one which separated people based on racial classification and the consequences to black people re: human rights abuses which perhaps precipitated Griffin's desire to go undercover as a "black man." Yet, even as a "black man," Griffin's reflections were often colored by what Tim Wise might cite as "privilege;" he knew he could always escape.
This essay, also explained in great detail in Writing Logically Thinking Critically is perhaps the hardest kind of position to take as a critical thinker, because it asks one to not only consider the viewpoints outside one's own on an issue, it asks you to contemplate such opposing viewpoints validity and search for places of common ground.
Such a view could potentially court violence with one's constituency--you could be labeled a traitor and lose their trust.
The question becomes then, why is this perspective viable and two, why is it recommended?
Flowchart
This Rogerian Model Flowchart, as were the Classical and Toulmin models, also taken from White and Billings's The Well-Crafted Argument: A Guide and Reader, Third Edition (157).
1. What issue am I going to investigate?
2. What is my thesis?
3. What common ground exists between my views and those whose views differ from mine?
4. What are the challenging views on the matter that I need to discuss?
5. How can I judiciously highlight the limitation of the challenging views and suggest a mutually agreeable way of overcoming those limitations?
6. Based on shared views about my thesis, what can I add in the way of evidence that would be compatible with challenging views?
7. What are my concluding reflections in light of the above?
8. Using the above information, what can I say in my opening paragraph that would best introduce my argument and engage my reader's attention?
Remember:
"A successful argument along Rogerian principles like the Classical and Toulmin models, includes thorough, accurate, and relevant evidence in support of its claim; unlike these models, however, the aim of Rogerian persuasion is not to 'win' the argument but to find common ground and to build consensus on an issue troubling both the writer and the audience. Instead of being considered 'opponents,' those with differing views are encouraged to reach consensus and to enter into a cooperative dialogue with the writer. . . . When considering taking a Rogerian approach to your argument, remember to ask yourself three questions: Can I represent challenging views and evaluate the evidence fairly and objectively? Do any of the challenging views make sense to some degree, and if so, can I find a way to incorporate them into my own views? Am I sincere in my desire to establish common ground with those who take issue with me? (157).
Final checklist:
1. Do I find common ground with those whose views differ from my own?
2. Do I carefully consider the weaknesses or limitations of my point of view, as well as those of others? Do I share these with my readers?
3. Is my tone cooperative rather than confrontational?
4. Do I encourage multiple perspectives rather than a singular one toward the issue?
5. Do I treat views which I disagree respectively? Do I give more emphasis to the points of agreement than the points of disagreement?
Use this final argument form for the essay which takes its theme from Black Like Me. The theme is "legality vs. morality" for all three arguments. One could look at the system of segregation, one which separated people based on racial classification and the consequences to black people re: human rights abuses which perhaps precipitated Griffin's desire to go undercover as a "black man." Yet, even as a "black man," Griffin's reflections were often colored by what Tim Wise might cite as "privilege;" he knew he could always escape.
This essay, also explained in great detail in Writing Logically Thinking Critically is perhaps the hardest kind of position to take as a critical thinker, because it asks one to not only consider the viewpoints outside one's own on an issue, it asks you to contemplate such opposing viewpoints validity and search for places of common ground.
Such a view could potentially court violence with one's constituency--you could be labeled a traitor and lose their trust.
The question becomes then, why is this perspective viable and two, why is it recommended?
Flowchart
This Rogerian Model Flowchart, as were the Classical and Toulmin models, also taken from White and Billings's The Well-Crafted Argument: A Guide and Reader, Third Edition (157).
1. What issue am I going to investigate?
2. What is my thesis?
3. What common ground exists between my views and those whose views differ from mine?
4. What are the challenging views on the matter that I need to discuss?
5. How can I judiciously highlight the limitation of the challenging views and suggest a mutually agreeable way of overcoming those limitations?
6. Based on shared views about my thesis, what can I add in the way of evidence that would be compatible with challenging views?
7. What are my concluding reflections in light of the above?
8. Using the above information, what can I say in my opening paragraph that would best introduce my argument and engage my reader's attention?
Remember:
"A successful argument along Rogerian principles like the Classical and Toulmin models, includes thorough, accurate, and relevant evidence in support of its claim; unlike these models, however, the aim of Rogerian persuasion is not to 'win' the argument but to find common ground and to build consensus on an issue troubling both the writer and the audience. Instead of being considered 'opponents,' those with differing views are encouraged to reach consensus and to enter into a cooperative dialogue with the writer. . . . When considering taking a Rogerian approach to your argument, remember to ask yourself three questions: Can I represent challenging views and evaluate the evidence fairly and objectively? Do any of the challenging views make sense to some degree, and if so, can I find a way to incorporate them into my own views? Am I sincere in my desire to establish common ground with those who take issue with me? (157).
Final checklist:
1. Do I find common ground with those whose views differ from my own?
2. Do I carefully consider the weaknesses or limitations of my point of view, as well as those of others? Do I share these with my readers?
3. Is my tone cooperative rather than confrontational?
4. Do I encourage multiple perspectives rather than a singular one toward the issue?
5. Do I treat views which I disagree respectively? Do I give more emphasis to the points of agreement than the points of disagreement?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Portfolio Workshop Monday, May 23, 2011 9-12 A-232
I have a couple of chapters from a textbook I used to use on revision for students to read to give them a bit of background on the topic.
The book is: Writing with a Thesis: A Rhetoric and Reader. Tenth Edition, by authors, Sarah E. Skwire and David Skwire. The publisher is Thomson Wadsworth 2008in Boston, MA.
The book is: Writing with a Thesis: A Rhetoric and Reader. Tenth Edition, by authors, Sarah E. Skwire and David Skwire. The publisher is Thomson Wadsworth 2008in Boston, MA.
Power and Love: Are the two incompatible
We complete this semester with a conversation on inductive reasoning. When one looks at fallacious arguments, when the argument is inductive one talks about material fallacies vs. formal fallacies (where the structure of the essay is suspect as is the case in deductive arguments).
I was reading my aol mail and saw a news announcement about our former governor's affair with an employee. The news reporter framed it as a "love match, that the affair was consensual," yet it begs the question when one looks at the power imbalance between employer and employee.
Here are two articles pulled from two popular media outlets. What do you think? When there is an imbalance in a relationship, be it employment or love, is it ever fair?
I couldn't help but remember the couple's employment of someone who was "illegal." Was this the person AS had sex with?
I was also reminded of the Sally Hemmings scandal with President Thomas Jefferson and how historians want to reshape that incidence of child molestation as a "love affair."
Article:
Arnold admits to having love child with staff member
Could there be a thicker Hollywood plot developing? Yesterday, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that he had fathered a love child with a longtime household staff member before he was elected governor in 2002. His wife, Maria Shriver, left the pair's Brentwood home earlier this year after he admitted to fathering the child with the staff member, who had worked for the family for 20 years but remained anonymous.
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger's statement to the LA Times said. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry." Shriver refused to comment on the matter.
http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/politics/may-17-arnold-maria-lovechild-bombshell-and-strauss-kahn-says-there-was-consent-10052.gallery
Shriver: It's a 'painful and heartbreaking time'
(AP) LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has acknowledged that he fathered a child with a member of his household staff, a revelation that apparently prompted wife Maria Shriver to leave the couple's home before they announced their separation last week.
Schwarzenegger and Shriver jointly announced May 9 that they were splitting up after 25 years of marriage. Yet, Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier in the year after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the child is his, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger told the Times in a statement that was later sent to The Associated Press. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.
"I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time," the statement concluded. "While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not."
Hours later, Shriver also released a statement: "This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."
Schwarzenegger's representatives also did not comment further.
The Times did not publish the former staffer's name nor that of her child but said the woman worked for the family for 20 years and retired in January.
Schwarzenegger issued his statement to the Times late Monday, after the newspaper had interviewed the former staffer. She had told the Times that another man — her husband at the time — was the child's father. When the Times later informed the woman of the governor's statement, she declined to comment further.
Schwarzenegger later released the statement to The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The child was born before Schwarzenegger began his seven-year stint in public office.
Shriver stood by her husband during his 2003 gubernatorial campaign after the Los Angeles Times reported accusations that he had a history of groping women. Schwarzenegger later said he "behaved badly sometimes."
In his first public comments since the couple announced their breakup, Schwarzenegger said last week that he and Shriver "both love each other very much."
"We are very fortunate that we have four extraordinary children and we're taking one day at a time," he said at a Los Angeles event marking Israeli independence. Their children range in age from 13 to 21.
Since his term as California governor ended in early January, Schwarzenegger, 63, has traveled around the world, his wife nowhere in sight. While the "Terminator" star appeared confident about the future since exiting politics, cutting movie deals and fashioning himself as a global spokesman for green energy, Shriver, known for her confidence, seemed unsettled.
Shriver, 55, maintained her own identity when her husband entered politics, though she gave up her job at NBC. Their union was often tested in Sacramento, where the former action star contended with a rough seven years of legislative gridlock, a budget crisis and lingering questions about his fidelity.
The estranged couple's initial separation statement referred to "a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us" but gave no hint of what caused the split.
Shriver had also mentioned "transitions" in a Facebook posting earlier this year but gave no details. At the time it seemed most likely to be a reference to the end of her role as California's first lady. Schwarzenegger had left office in January after seven years as California's governor. Shriver never moved to Sacramento during that time, but she used her position to run a popular yearly women's conference that drew high-profile attendees.
Shriver, daughter of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver and a niece of President John F. Kennedy, met the former Mr. Universe in 1977 at the Robert F. Kennedy Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament in Forest Hills, New York.
They married on April 26, 1986, in a white clapboard church in Hyannis, Massachusetts, with many members of the Kennedy clan and celebrities present and a crowd of fans cheering outside. At the time she was an anchor on the "CBS Morning News" and the Austrian-born star was filming another movie.
They have four children, Katherine, 21, Christina, 19, Patrick, 17, and Christopher, 13.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/17/ap/celebrities/main20063520.shtml
I was reading my aol mail and saw a news announcement about our former governor's affair with an employee. The news reporter framed it as a "love match, that the affair was consensual," yet it begs the question when one looks at the power imbalance between employer and employee.
Here are two articles pulled from two popular media outlets. What do you think? When there is an imbalance in a relationship, be it employment or love, is it ever fair?
I couldn't help but remember the couple's employment of someone who was "illegal." Was this the person AS had sex with?
I was also reminded of the Sally Hemmings scandal with President Thomas Jefferson and how historians want to reshape that incidence of child molestation as a "love affair."
Article:
Arnold admits to having love child with staff member
Could there be a thicker Hollywood plot developing? Yesterday, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that he had fathered a love child with a longtime household staff member before he was elected governor in 2002. His wife, Maria Shriver, left the pair's Brentwood home earlier this year after he admitted to fathering the child with the staff member, who had worked for the family for 20 years but remained anonymous.
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger's statement to the LA Times said. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry." Shriver refused to comment on the matter.
http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/politics/may-17-arnold-maria-lovechild-bombshell-and-strauss-kahn-says-there-was-consent-10052.gallery
Shriver: It's a 'painful and heartbreaking time'
(AP) LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has acknowledged that he fathered a child with a member of his household staff, a revelation that apparently prompted wife Maria Shriver to leave the couple's home before they announced their separation last week.
Schwarzenegger and Shriver jointly announced May 9 that they were splitting up after 25 years of marriage. Yet, Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier in the year after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the child is his, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger told the Times in a statement that was later sent to The Associated Press. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.
"I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time," the statement concluded. "While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not."
Hours later, Shriver also released a statement: "This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."
Schwarzenegger's representatives also did not comment further.
The Times did not publish the former staffer's name nor that of her child but said the woman worked for the family for 20 years and retired in January.
Schwarzenegger issued his statement to the Times late Monday, after the newspaper had interviewed the former staffer. She had told the Times that another man — her husband at the time — was the child's father. When the Times later informed the woman of the governor's statement, she declined to comment further.
Schwarzenegger later released the statement to The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The child was born before Schwarzenegger began his seven-year stint in public office.
Shriver stood by her husband during his 2003 gubernatorial campaign after the Los Angeles Times reported accusations that he had a history of groping women. Schwarzenegger later said he "behaved badly sometimes."
In his first public comments since the couple announced their breakup, Schwarzenegger said last week that he and Shriver "both love each other very much."
"We are very fortunate that we have four extraordinary children and we're taking one day at a time," he said at a Los Angeles event marking Israeli independence. Their children range in age from 13 to 21.
Since his term as California governor ended in early January, Schwarzenegger, 63, has traveled around the world, his wife nowhere in sight. While the "Terminator" star appeared confident about the future since exiting politics, cutting movie deals and fashioning himself as a global spokesman for green energy, Shriver, known for her confidence, seemed unsettled.
Shriver, 55, maintained her own identity when her husband entered politics, though she gave up her job at NBC. Their union was often tested in Sacramento, where the former action star contended with a rough seven years of legislative gridlock, a budget crisis and lingering questions about his fidelity.
The estranged couple's initial separation statement referred to "a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us" but gave no hint of what caused the split.
Shriver had also mentioned "transitions" in a Facebook posting earlier this year but gave no details. At the time it seemed most likely to be a reference to the end of her role as California's first lady. Schwarzenegger had left office in January after seven years as California's governor. Shriver never moved to Sacramento during that time, but she used her position to run a popular yearly women's conference that drew high-profile attendees.
Shriver, daughter of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver and a niece of President John F. Kennedy, met the former Mr. Universe in 1977 at the Robert F. Kennedy Pro-Celebrity Tennis Tournament in Forest Hills, New York.
They married on April 26, 1986, in a white clapboard church in Hyannis, Massachusetts, with many members of the Kennedy clan and celebrities present and a crowd of fans cheering outside. At the time she was an anchor on the "CBS Morning News" and the Austrian-born star was filming another movie.
They have four children, Katherine, 21, Christina, 19, Patrick, 17, and Christopher, 13.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/17/ap/celebrities/main20063520.shtml
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wrapping it up
Today in class we complete the presentations of the Toulmin essay. Before this we reviewed WLTC--Read 169-183. We completed exercises 7E (175).
Homework is to read pp. 183-199 and complete: 7H (182-3), Ex. 7I (193), 7J (195). Read Ch. 8--bring in questions.
3. Bring in an outline for the BLM essay, along with the IPS. Use WLTC 87-88. I will post an outline a bit later. Look for it.
4. Don't forget the cyber assignment from Tuesday. Only two students completed it.
5. We will have a short exam on key terms on Tuesday, complete any exercises we haven't reviewed and talk about Propaganda Techniques.
6. I will have copies of a portfolio for students to look at as well.
Homework is to read pp. 183-199 and complete: 7H (182-3), Ex. 7I (193), 7J (195). Read Ch. 8--bring in questions.
3. Bring in an outline for the BLM essay, along with the IPS. Use WLTC 87-88. I will post an outline a bit later. Look for it.
4. Don't forget the cyber assignment from Tuesday. Only two students completed it.
5. We will have a short exam on key terms on Tuesday, complete any exercises we haven't reviewed and talk about Propaganda Techniques.
6. I will have copies of a portfolio for students to look at as well.
Congratulations! You did it-that is, completed the term. Now for final details: Portfolios are due no later than Friday, May 26, 12 noon.
Final Essay
The portfolio checklist includes all the WLTC assignments completed. If they were completed in the book, just include the score. Freewrites, reading logs, essays--all graded drafts and narratives (completed/revised). The only new essay is the Black Like Me essay which uses Rogerian.
Include an Initial Planning Sheet, plus an Outline.
Narratives or Introduction to the Portfolio
Each narrative is about 250 words and they are the introduction to the portfolio.
Narrative 1
This essay looks at what you learned about writing and logic and thinking critically that you will carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning. You can talk about books and other instruction materials and the instructor.
Narrative 2
The second narrative will talk about your revision process and what specifically you have learned about yourself as a writer that makes you a better writer at the end of the course than you were at the start. Use two graded essays as evidence.
Portfolio
The portfolio documents is a word document. Do not send items separately. Attach the document and on the cover sheet include: Name, address, phone number, course name and code.
The assignments can be grouped and this forms your table of contents:
Narratives 1 & 2
WLTC Assignments
Freewrites
Cyber-Assignments
Tim Wise related assignments
From the Bottom of the Heap Assignments
The Known World Assignments
Black Like Me Assignments
Anything Else, such as extra credit assignments (graded assignments)
Final Essay
The portfolio checklist includes all the WLTC assignments completed. If they were completed in the book, just include the score. Freewrites, reading logs, essays--all graded drafts and narratives (completed/revised). The only new essay is the Black Like Me essay which uses Rogerian.
Include an Initial Planning Sheet, plus an Outline.
Narratives or Introduction to the Portfolio
Each narrative is about 250 words and they are the introduction to the portfolio.
Narrative 1
This essay looks at what you learned about writing and logic and thinking critically that you will carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning. You can talk about books and other instruction materials and the instructor.
Narrative 2
The second narrative will talk about your revision process and what specifically you have learned about yourself as a writer that makes you a better writer at the end of the course than you were at the start. Use two graded essays as evidence.
Portfolio
The portfolio documents is a word document. Do not send items separately. Attach the document and on the cover sheet include: Name, address, phone number, course name and code.
The assignments can be grouped and this forms your table of contents:
Narratives 1 & 2
WLTC Assignments
Freewrites
Cyber-Assignments
Tim Wise related assignments
From the Bottom of the Heap Assignments
The Known World Assignments
Black Like Me Assignments
Anything Else, such as extra credit assignments (graded assignments)
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